Ten million people in Brazil suffering from El
Niño-related drought

FAO has issued a Special
Alert about the situation in Northeast
Brazil, where a prolonged drought stretching across ten
states is severely affecting crop production and threatening
the population's food supply. According to the alert, "the
position is difficult for almost 10 million people of which
about 4.8 million are facing critical food supply
problems".

The alert quotes the government's regional development
agency for the Northeast, SUDENE, as saying that as of early
May 1998, these 4.8 million people are at "immediate risk of
starvation". Relief operations (distribution of food
baskets) initiated by the government have helped ease the
situation for these people.

The drought is linked to the El Niño weather
phenomenon, which has intensified the region's annual dry
spells and caused insufficient rainfall during the rainy
season. Total grain production in a normal year in the
Northeast region is about 4.5 million tonnes. Current
indications are that this year's cereal output is unlikely
be more than half of this figure. The drought is forecast to
continue until at least December 1998.